"May I ask, do we have some deep-seated grudge?" Lin Hao asked, puzzled.
"No, I just find you annoying, purely. Your existence pollutes us professional players!"
Lin Hao silently nodded, no longer bothering with him, and turned his head to look forward.
Fernandinho, finding himself ignored, also went to his position.
Arsenal, playing at Emirates Stadium, welcomed a strong opponent and the opening match of the season.
Before this match, the team also held a meeting, discussing some season goals and encouraging everyone. Arsenal's season goal was well-known: to fight for fourth place.
However, now they would have to perform exceptionally well just to have a chance at fourth.
Both teams' players entered the field, and after the pre-match ceremony, Lin Hao sat on the bench, watching the game.
Lin Hao wasn't very familiar with his teammates around him, as he hadn't even participated in training yet. Playing football in England was very complicated; all the procedures had only recently been completed.
Sitting next to Lin Hao was Saka, a player a year younger than him!
Although both were very young, their statuses were worlds apart. Saka had climbed the ranks at Arsenal, a true product of their youth system. To be in this position at seventeen proved the team had high hopes for him.
Lin Hao, on the other hand, was purely there to make up the numbers.
"Do you… really not understand football?" Saka hesitated, but still asked.
Lin Hao nodded, not feeling embarrassed, perhaps because he had heard such words too many times recently.
"I think… you don't have to listen, it's just a suggestion!"
"I think if you've never systematically learned, then don't try to learn now! Because I see you seriously paying attention to everyone's positioning, tactics, and so on, which is why I have this suggestion!"
"I watched the World Cup matches, and I think you have your own unique strengths. It's definitely too late for you to re-learn now. It's better to just focus on learning what you need!"
Lin Hao lowered his head, pondering for a moment, "Then what do I need?"
Just as Saka was about to speak, Lin Hao added, "Let me speak first, and you see if I'm right. Otherwise, what you say might influence me. It's more important to see if my own thoughts are correct!"
Saka nodded, thinking to himself that this guy was really smart.
"For example, in the left winger position, what I currently lack is positional awareness. I think this is relatively easy to learn!"
"Also, cooperation with teammates… is it called 'triangle passing'? With the full-back and midfielder, midfielder and center-forward, center-back and center-forward—are these various changes necessary?"
"When I have the ball, I think I'm okay, but without the ball, I need to constantly remind myself!"
"And the most important thing is actually during defense…"
Saka extended his hand, smiling, "You don't need to say anymore. You've already thought of all the problems. If you're a winger, that's certainly enough. After all, a winger is probably the position that requires the least work in a team, but at the same time, it's also the most anticipated position!"
"I'll just say one thing: observation! A seemingly insignificant but extremely important ability. You probably understand this too, but you haven't formed a habit, so you need to constantly remind yourself!"
As he spoke, Saka blushed a little. Although his dark face didn't show it, one could feel his slight embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I'm a year younger than you, but I'm here giving you advice!"
Lin Hao smiled and shook his head, "You want Arsenal to be better, right?"
Saka looked up at Lin Hao, somewhat incredulous, and blinked, "How did you know?"
"Because of your personality, you don't seem like someone who would actively strike up a conversation with him, yet you're talking to me, someone completely insignificant. You also said you watched the World Cup matches. Although that sounds a bit arrogant, it should be true. You saw that if I train, I should become very strong, so you want me to get stronger, right?"
Saka once again admired Lin Hao's intelligence. "Impressive!"
At this moment, the stadium erupted. On the field, Manchester City scored a goal. The scorer was Sterling! The former Liverpool prodigy.
Manchester City led Arsenal one-nil.
By the end of the first half, Arsenal had still not managed to equalize.
In the second half, neither team made any substitutions.
The original players continued the battle.
It wasn't until the seventieth minute that Bernardo Silva scored another goal for Manchester City, making it two-nil.
Only twenty minutes of game time remained.
Although two-nil wasn't a huge score, looking at the match on the field, Manchester City had actually been constantly suppressing Arsenal. Arsenal hadn't created any good opportunities at all, let alone scored a goal.
In the seventy-fifth minute, Arsenal decided to make a substitution. But to Lin Hao's utter surprise, after Saka was brought on, there was still something for him to do.
The Head Coach called him over, telling him to go on too.
The assistant referee also held up his number card. Lin Hao looked at the Head Coach with some disbelief. The Head Coach sat in his seat, extending a hand, his meaning very clear: "Go on! We can't win anyway, go try it!"
Lin Hao replaced his teammate and ran to the left-winger position.
Right away, he faced a monumental challenge: a throw-in. However, this time, it was Manchester City's throw-in.
It was clearly bullying. The throw-in went directly to the defensive player in front of Lin Hao, who was Kyle Walker.
Before receiving the ball, Walker bumped Lin Hao, who was bothering him from behind. Lin Hao was caught off guard and didn't expect such force, being directly knocked over onto the turf.
Then, all twenty-two players on the field froze, because they heard a sound they had never heard before on a football pitch: laughter.
The fans in the stands actually laughed at Lin Hao. Tens of thousands of people, laughing together—this sight was truly unprecedented, leaving everyone momentarily stunned before they continued the match.
Even with Lin Hao's thick skin, he couldn't help but blush intensely at this moment.
"Hahaha, this kid is killing me, trying to challenge Walker!"
"Don't laugh so loudly, he's one of our own players after all!"
"He's just there to make up the numbers anyway. We're going to lose regardless. This trip wasn't for nothing, he's hilarious!"
This was the greatest contempt.
Lin Hao tried hard to run back to defend, but that laughter kept echoing in his ears.
This kind of psychological shadow was too terrifying.
Lin Hao had just caught up to Walker when Walker accelerated and continued forward.
Lin Hao accelerated at the same time, simultaneously reaching out and pulling Walker. Walker wasn't too affected, but he still passed the ball.
It was intercepted by a defender.
Lin Hao immediately turned and ran towards the attacking direction, ran a few steps, stopped, moved slowly, and watched his teammates' passing combinations.
"Hiss!"
Mair, sitting in his chair, frowned and gasped, then stood up, crossing his arms and watching Lin Hao, "This kid…"